


The Gospel in Shoe Leather

by shipcat



Series: Assorted Tumblr and Discord Drabbles [14]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, If Selkies are considered human, M/M, Poor Rasa, Sasori is a selkie, Vaguely Mentioned Human Trafficking, and Rasa is his unfortunate bride to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 17:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20029933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipcat/pseuds/shipcat
Summary: At the lowest point in his life, Rasa accidentally gets engaged to a whackjob. But at least that whackjob saved his life. Right?Excerpt:He is button-up shirt and steam-pressed slacks at the edge of a pier, itching to roll up his sleeves and jump into the ocean. A leather briefcase dangles over his shoulder, empty but for papers he doesn’t want to sign. At his back, a railing, chill with the morning dew. Below him, the water rumbles and roars, spraying his leather loafers with seafoam.





	The Gospel in Shoe Leather

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Viure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viure/gifts).

> Tumblr Prompt: "Use your imagination!"

He is button-up shirt and steam-pressed slacks at the edge of a pier, itching to roll up his sleeves and jump into the ocean. A leather briefcase dangles over his shoulder, empty but for papers he doesn’t want to sign. At his back, a railing, chill with the morning dew. Below him, the water rumbles and roars, spraying his leather loafers with seafoam. 

They had been expensive. One thousand dollars each, skinned off the back of heifers and days away from his family. A business partner had given it to him, he distantly recalls. Only he cannot remember who, or when, or whether he wrote a thank you note. He thinks he did. These shoes are worth— something. Maybe sentimental. More than a price tag, he knows. Yet, despite all his years of appraisal, Rasa can’t pick a number. 

He remembers a shoebox in hand, too smooth for cardboard, with swirling grains—wood. Red hair and weighing blessings on scales, cherishing the feeling of his son in his arms, small. Small, and alive. Alive. Alive. His business thriving. His family happy, and together. Now, he has shoes on his heels, salt in his wounds, and not much else. 

“Mm. If you ask me, you’re getting a little briny.” A low voice murmurs.

“Excuse me?” Rasa whirls around, loafers slipping, to see a short, familiar figure, with brown-storm-eyes and red, red hair. His feet meet air, and he’s gone.

Rasa plunges into the ocean, bubbles trailing after. Immediately the tides rip away his suitcase, thrashing him back and forth under the pier. A shoulder clips a dock and he gasps, swallowing water. His vision blurs. His head swims. 

He kicks his legs weakly, trying to push himself to the surface. His suit turns to lead. The sea blackens. It blurs.

Rasa sinks.

He wakes up to the sky, cheek pressed into the beach. A groan escapes his lips, followed immediately by gagging.

“Disgusting,” someone gripes, rolling him around to retch. They wipe the sand away from his hair, muttering. 

“Where…?” 

“The beach,” the stranger answers mockingly. 

Rasa coughs, wiping the sea foam from his mouth. Distantly, he realizes that his shoes, and his jacket, are gone. Instead, he’s covered by a—pelt of some sort. Warm, thick, smooth, and vaguely familiar. His eyes land on the person sitting by him.

“You’re—the plaintiff of that case,” Rasa dumbly states. “Akasuna versus Shimagawa.” 

“Sasori,” the red-haired man greets. An insane man who had sued a crime lord over a fur coat.

“My client was the defendant. Orochimaru,” he remembers. 

“You resigned due to ethical concerns. Then, the police received an anonymous tip on his illicit activities—”

“I was fired,” Rasa interrupts. “From my own damn firm.”

“—and my sealskin returned to me.” Sasori doesn’t care. 

Rasa stares at him. “...and your point?”

Sighing with great burden, Sasori reclines on the rocks, legs to the side. “In my culture, returning one’s sealskin is equivalent of a marriage proposal,” he explains, swirling a tidal pool with a finger. A baby octopus curls up around him. “I didn’t want to marry the entire police department, so you were the next best choice.”

“You can’t be serious,” Rasa chuckles.

Sasori lifts the cephalopod to his face, observing its colors shift from tan to eggshell to tawny again. 

The laughter dies out. “You aren’t serious,” Rasa repeats, voice straining. “You can’t be.“

“And why can’t I?” 

“Because—it’s marriage! To a stranger!”

“A stranger who saved your life.”

“Over a coat!” 

“Over my  **freedom** ,” Sasori firmly corrects, tossing the octopus back into its home. “Freedom of the seas. Freedom of movement. Freedom of thought.”

“Freely insane,” Rasa scoffs, moving to sit up.

Sasori shoves him down with a clammy hand. “You are human. Your minds are weak, and limited,” he states, ocean flaring up behind him. For a moment, the sea spray flares gold in the afternoon light.

“What does that mean?” Rasa grunts. “That you aren’t human.”

“Use your imagination,” Sasori plainly says, reaching over to Rasa. A toothy necklace smirks up at them, incisors too round to be shark, too sharp enough to be canine. 

“You have three guesses, and three days,” Sasori finishes, dropping the necklace back on Rasa’s chest. Rocks crunch underfoot as he steps away. He holds up his fingers. “Three. Keep my sealskin until then.”

Holding his side, Rasa sits up. “And if I don’t?” He exhales. Fur falls to his lap, hot and heavy over his soaked pants. “Or guess wrong?” 

“You won’t.” Sasori is certain of that. “Use your imagination,” he repeats, moving towards the pier, now crawling with laughter and families.

A couple minutes and he’s gone, leaving Rasa with bruised ribs. He breathes in the carnival air slowly, cotton candy sticking to his mouth. He licks his lips, watching the Ferris wheel flick to life. 

It tastes buttery, and sweet.

**Author's Note:**

> It turns out that I like writing fantasy AUs, so please, let me know what you think or leave a request in the comments below~! ♡
> 
> Conversely, feel free to send me an ask on Tumblr [@ThatShipCat](https://thatshipcat.tumblr.com).


End file.
